Networking giant Bay Networks plans to provide $US1 million in networking equipment to support a non-profit research consortium which is developing high-bandwidth Internet technologies.
The consortium, called Internet2, is a US-wide group of more than one hundred research universities, as well as non-profit research centers, government agencies and industry members. The goal of the group, founded in October 1996, is to develop new network points-of-presence (PoPs) capable of transmitting several gigabits of information per second. This will enable the Internet to carry more traffic and support high-level applications, such as voice and video, online collaborative research, distance learning and telemedicine, Bay officials says.
Bay plans to not only donate the networking equipment, but also to collaborate with Internet2 researchers on developing IP services, including multicast and quality-of-service technologies, Bay officials say.
Internet2 plans to share its research and development with U.S. government organizations, schools, private companies, libraries and universities, officials said. While focused on the U.S. Internet community, Internet2 is also partnering with similar international groups around the world, officials said.
More information about Internet2 can be found at http://www.internet2.edu/.